The Beeb's travel chief advising caution. Monarch are tweeting all is fixed, nothing to see here, move along now but the reality is this is simply an extension by a clearly very concerned (for job security) aviation authority whose liberty has been taken advantage of twice now. So far they are claiming they have investing/funding but there's no proof or detail of this.

It's not over yet. The Beeb's travel chief advising caution. Monarch are tweeting all is fixed, nothing to see here, move along now but the reality is this is simply an extension by a clearly very concerned (for job security) aviation authority whose liberty has been taken advantage of twice now. So far they are claiming they have investing/funding but there's no proof or detail of this.

Cannot see them hoodwinking the CAA TBH , If they granted a extension based on this investment coming in then i imagine concrete evidence was required ...

FANS:

Government???

Monarch are a commercial company, they stand or fall as a commercial company. If they go down, other commercial companies take up the slack. Nothing to do the Govt.

But - I hope Monarch pull through.

I suspect there will be new ownership very soon with Greybull moving on or only playing a minor role. A foreign investor outside Europe seems very likely! It could be who people think - very interesting times ahead if this is true!

It's also pretty clear to anyone who knows anything about aviation that the CAA must be confident that Monarch have a solid future hence the extension to allow the new owner/investor to take over with a new ATOL certificate.

Hopefully this week we will know more!

Already posted in R & N

IB4138

Thanks we know about this! :ok:

If the new investors are from outside the EU then i believe a stake of 49 per cent is the maximum they could hold under present regulations

Richard

I think FANS has a point re the government. A high profile failure which could have been averted by huge foreign investment from outside Europe (especially post Brexit) would definitely involve government. This would seriously shake confidence in a crucial area of the economy.

We are open for business are we not!!?? ;)

Brigantee

Monarch is a private company so not sure that applies but happy to be corrected.

Surely with post BREXIT the 49% maximum non-EU holding can be scrapped if the government so desires (it would tie in nicely with the theme of free trade) and thus Monarch with purely UK connections, unlike easyJet, Ryanair, IAG etc. may have a huge advantage by BREXIT in attracting non EU (Hainan?) investment?

KyleRB,

I think Brigantee is correct. Delta were only able to purchase 49% of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin are a not public. I believe that EU rules limits non EU based companies to no more than 49%, however another EU based airline could invest more.

Happy to stand corrected if wrong. Until Brexit is complete the UK is still very much subject to EU rulings. I doubt the UK government would want to change the investment rulings anyway.

But we haven't had BREXIT yet so the above is moot.

As has been said in the previous post this has to be done iaw with EU rules, which TBF has allowed the French and more importantly in the context of this thread the Chinese to partake in Funding Hinkley point.

Ah, but BREXIT means BREXIT :ugh:

There is nothing to be said that something legally binding can't be written into any sale contract to allow a controlling stake to be a purchase option in say 3 years time, i.e. post BREXIT so it could be highly relevant.

It could be held up as an example by the government of the advantages in post BREXIT and free trade by the government making the rules rather than the EU.

If indeed HNA are to be in the mix it will be interesting the see their take on what monarchs future direction will be

Being at MON last time round the extension was just that, an extension because no deal had been made but it seemed possible.

Fingers crossed the MON staff get a good deal with the next investors. The deal with grey bull was massive redundancies and 30% pay cuts. Would hate to see the staff go through that again to satisfy another potential investor.

False rumours and malicious speculation. Monarch are good to go.

Watch this space.

If it is HNA, then it is their foothold in the UK and Europe with links to the Americas and then back to Asia. It smells expansion!!

So tell the Eu to get lost re Monarch but where does that leave Easyjet and Ryan both much much bigger who are very EU dependent?

And of course the Eu can always turn round and add conditions to 'foreign ' airlines operating largely inside the Eu so a quick fix on Monarch may not be so simple.

there is no free trade anymore it was 19th century concept and in todays world does not exist

Well if the rumours of lots of Chinese money are true then things could be looking up without doubt

Having lost the odd pilot job in the UK IT business (Laker, Air Europe etc) I am now retired and have flown with Monarch several times in recent years.

I now fly with them by choice .They have an excellent product with a great set of cabin staff and I am keeping my fingers crossed for them.

Looking forward to travelling with them to Lanzagrotty next year.

Re Government intervention. I too see no place for the government to intervene in the plight of Monarch. The reality of it is Monarch are of no strategic importance (agreed they do support a lot of high quality/skilled jobs) to the country. Should Monarch, or any airline operating in the leisure sector for that matter, cease trading the market has so many other players in it that the capacity would easily be absorbed. In fact an over supply of seats on most of Monarchs routes is looming. If I was a competitor I wouldn't be happy if they were to receive preferential treatment. Also where was the intervention with XL, Globespan, Baby
That said, delighted that Monarch live to fight another day. A great brand and a decent employer.
Perhaps the HNA deal will be tied in to the purchase of the 737s (in an asset management role), so they will not require a majority stake.

Im sure the government have no intention whatsoever of getting involved in this issue

Unless we are party to the negotiations, none of us here really know what's going on behind closed doors. There is little certainty in anything we say, it is merely conjecture and opinion, sometimes enlightened opinion!

I think some people are trying to see things in this that don't exist, the UK Government won't get involved, they will be aware of course because potentially large scale redundancies require that they be aware, but beyond that no chance of interference in a private company.

The CAA have granted an extension because they are satisfied that the risk in two weeks is no greater than now and i would expect some form of bond will have been paid to allow this whilst work continues to find an investor.

Well I'm sure that having news about the 12 day extension on SKY news will do far more damage to future booking than all the tittle tattle on here, Facebook and Twitter.

By all accounts a investor is on board and announcement due early next week

I suspect this is still more complex than many on here realise. Don't forget that Greybull only own 90% of Monarch.

From what I do know I think you might be right Rushed Approach.

They need to get things sorted ASAP regarding the ATOL renewal , As it stands they have been thrown a lifeline , If they let it go to wire as they did yesterday again consumer confidence already damaged will be lost completely

Brigantee

I think they are aware of this! ;) I can't imagine they are deliberately dragging this out.

I have 2 good friends there so I have an interest plus if they do longhaul again, I would re-submit my application!

Unfortunately for those at Monarch I think you might be mistaken, if there was "nothing to see here move along" then my personal belief is a new ATOL would have been issued, not a 12 day extension, which in reality is just a temporary lifeline. I guess the conversation went something along the lines of" we're in a good state", "we don't think you are", "we are", "prove it", "erm we cant right now, here's what we can prove", "ok that's enough to buy you 12 days, you have that time to come up with the rest".


For the jobs of all those involved I hope that all is good going forward, but to go to the 11th hour just for 12 days seems somewhat bizarre. I certainly hope it's not so the CAA can in 12 days turn around and say, we gave them a chance, so it's not our fault gov"


Good luck all involved.

probably The Money playing hard to get an trying to extort the best possible price

Monarch aren't out of the woods yet but they're sounding very bullish..............

Lou Scannon...all at Monarch salute you...

I think it's fair to say the Naysayers are going to end up with egg on their face.

I doubt the 10% stake the PPF has is relevant in any way.

This will not go down to the wire but be sorted shortly.

Why shouldn't the UK government get involved.

Thomas Cook was 'sorted' by the UK government:ok:

Thomas Cook was nationalised???? Missed that one!
Why would a Chinese business be keen to lose money against FR/EZY/DY/LS taking white people to get a tan?
How are forward bookings looking? Unless new owner has VERY deep pockets they're about to have an existence threatening winter trading situation. Seriously, rose tinted memories of better days aside, who on Earth books with a company with this visibility in the news cycle? The only way back is to beat the other guys on PRICE and that won't get you through to the summer!

Who said anything about 'Nationalised'

Eu doesn't need to "add" conditions. EU airline exceeding 49% have no traffic rights to EU airports.

Dont know why a chinese company would be interested skipness but it appears they certainly were three months back so maybe still are ?

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articl...-monarch-stake

They recently bought a 80 per cent stake in SR Technics so perhaps monarchs engineering business which is by all accounts highly regarded is part of the attraction ?

Please do not always believe what a Chinese person says in business and aviation.

Had first hand experience of their lies recently.